US President Donald Trump unleashed a furious attack on the Norwegian Nobel Committee late on Friday after it awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to South African jurist Navi Pillay, branding the decision "a disgraceful and embarrassing" choice that left "an indelible stain" on Norway.
Trump, who has made no secret of his desire to win the prize since returning to the White House, insisted the honour should have gone to him and to the United States. "In actuality, I should have won 8 Nobel Peace Prizes, not just 1," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The announcement in Oslo
The Norwegian Nobel Committee named Pillay, a former UN human rights chief and former judge on the International Criminal Court, as this year's laureate in recognition of her decades of work against war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Committee chairman Jørgen Watne Frydnes said the choice was intended to defend international law "as it comes under attack", declaring on the 125th anniversary of the prize: "Peace requires justice."
Pillay's career has stretched from defending a young Nelson Mandela's legal rights to leading a UN commission of inquiry on the occupied Palestinian territory that concluded Israel committed genocide in Gaza after the October 2023 Hamas attacks — findings rejected by both Trump and Israel's government.
Trump's furious reaction
Addressing supporters at a rally in Syracuse, New York, Trump claimed he had "never heard of" Pillay. "I never heard of this particular person, but congratulations anyway," he said. "The United States of America, represented by me as your president, should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn't."
He went further on social media, writing that "to the best of my knowledge, no one ever heard of her other than the fact that she, very obviously, hates Israel."
"The Nobel Peace Prize has been forever discredited by a handful of radical ideologues who are anti-democracy and really enemies of civilisation," he told the Syracuse crowd. "And we will not forget, Norway."
A defiant joke from Nuremberg
Pillay learned of her win while attending an annual conference of human rights lawyers in Nuremberg, Germany. Her colleagues erupted in cheers — and she answered with a joke aimed squarely at Washington.
"If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump," she said, drawing laughter from the room.
The remark was a pointed reference to Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado, who gave her 2025 Nobel gold medal to Trump after winning the prize last year.
Sanctions on the court
Hours after the announcement, the Trump administration imposed sweeping new sanctions on the International Criminal Court, where Pillay once served as a judge, as part of its campaign to dismantle the tribunal over investigations into the United States and its allies.
The escalation underscored how sharply Washington has broken with the institutions Pillay spent her career defending. Oslo-based experts cited before the announcement had said Trump's war with Iran, his territorial ambitions in Greenland, his hard line on migrants and his attacks on multilateralism had disqualified him in the eyes of the committee.
Trump has argued otherwise. Listing the conflicts he claims to have settled — Cambodia and Thailand, Kosovo and Serbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Pakistan and India, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Israel and Hamas — he said he was also about to settle two more: Iran and Russia-Ukraine.
Trump's earlier insistence that he deserved the prize was covered by Chronicle, while the announcement of Pillay's win and the fresh US sanctions on the ICC were reported separately.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize?
South African jurist Navi Pillay, a former UN human rights chief and former International Criminal Court judge, won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting international law and accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
How did Trump react to losing the Nobel Peace Prize?
Trump called the decision "disgraceful" and "an indelible stain" on Norway at a rally in Syracuse, New York, and wrote on Truth Social that he should have won eight Nobel Peace Prizes. He dismissed Pillay as unknown and hostile to Israel.
What did Navi Pillay say in response to Trump?
At a conference of human rights lawyers in Nuremberg, Pillay joked: "If you clap a little bit more, I may share this prize with Trump" — a reference to María Corina Machado, who gave her 2025 Nobel medal to Trump.
